- Title: Klown
- IMDB: link
Adapted from the Danish television show of the same name written and starring Frank Hvam and Casper Christensen, Klown is based on fictionalized versions of the two Danish comedians who keep putting themselves, and others, in uncomfortable situations.
Hvam stars as Frank, a mostly good if somewhat clueless guy who doesn’t really like kids and isn’t ready when he learns his girlfriend (Mia Lyhne) is pregnant. Knowing both the pregnancy and relationship are on shaky ground Frank comes up with a really horrible plan of kidnapping Mia’s12 year-old nephew Bo (Marcuz Jess Petersen) and taking him along on his canoeing trip with his best friend Casper (Casper Christensen).
What follows is a series of misadventures and bad decisions as Casper, out of the reach of his wife (Iben Hjejle), seeks out young women to sleep with while Frank causes about as much damage as good to the impressionable Bo over the next few days. Although Frank’s decision-making is circumspect, his heart is usually in the right place as he discovers that this father stuff may not be so bad.
Their misadventures include a fight between best friends that leads to a capsized canoe, the public discussion of the size of boy’s penises, a trip to a brothel, and Casper and Frank providing the booze on a drunken party bus full of high school students. Well… maybe Frank isn’t quite ready to be a father yet after all.
Klown is a cringe comedy whose humor comes mostly from the uncomfortable situations the characters find themselves in (mostly to their own doing and most of which rely on a high degree of shock value so I won’t ruin the jokes for you here). Some of the sequences work better than others, although there are definitely some groaners mixed in, but the movie does have some legitimately funny moments even if it continues to push the bounds of taste and believability to deliver many of the most memorable moments.
I wouldn’t recommend the film to anyone, especially those who find themselves easily offended by politically incorrect humor, but with a running time of 90-minutes Klown, presented in Danish with English subtitles, delivers some quality laughs without overstaying its welcome.